captioned by closed captioning services inc. direct hit, a tornado tears a town apart, destroying 50 homes, while 20 states are under flood warnings and watches. where is this massive storm system headed next? how high will the surging gas prices go? tonight a reality check here. should we prepare for $4 a gallon by memorial day? plus where it's already there. the unrest in libya fueling those prices. both sides digging in. the colonel and the rebels. what if anything should the u.s. do now? the latest singer to give back the gadhafi money. the cold case cracked, the man who targeted women for more than a decade and the one simple move this week that got him caught. made in america. thousands of you writing in from the firefighter's uniform to the kindergarten class to the discovery at the golden gate bridge.

what all of you found. good evening on this saturday. like clockwork, the spike in twisters we see every year when we start the month of march returned in devastating force. one tearing through a louisiana town, flipping a mail truck like a toy. snapping utility poles. the power is out tonight in more than 100 homes damaged. we've now learned of one death, a mother trying to save her child. the tornado is part of a massive storm system. there are flood warnings and watches in 20 states from the mississippi river to the hudson river. meteorologist chikage windler leads us off. >> reporter: three suspected tornados touched down within 15 minutes of each other in southern louisiana this morning. hardest hit, the town of rayne where winds leveled businesses and damaged 50 homes. at least a dozen people were injured. a 21-year-old mother was killed when she tried to protect her daughter from a falling tree.

downed trees, power lines and natural gas leaks forced an evacuation. tonight, police are going door to door checking on residents. also in the storm's path, crowley, louisiana about seven miles away where three more people were injured. heavy thunderstorms brought flooding to bourbon street, new orleans where mardi gras festivities have been getting under way. >> it's been something. >> chikage, from channel 5, with us now. you have covered these systems for year, but this one in particular is massive. >> it is massive. stretching from new orleans all the way to new england. bringing with it the deadly tornado and rain. word that was rated an ef-2 on a scale of 0 to 2, a two packing winds of 135 miles per hour. you can see lots of other damage reports as well. tornado watches have been issued as far east as the florida panhandle as the storm continues to move. >> the big question tonight is where the whole system is headed

next. >> next up, with the additional flooding threat, it will be pushing eastward towards areas like southeastern sections of the united states, georgia, florida, all the way through the carolinas, bringing more threat of severe weather and in addition to that, heavy rain and flood potential from the mid-atlantic to the northeast. >> a long night. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "gma." but we move on this evening to the gas prices. it was last night we reported on the increase in two weeks' time. should americans be prepared for an average of $4 a gallon by memorial day? as david kerley found, in some places that $4 mark is already here. >> reporter: bill brown didn't have to wait for memorial day. he paid more than $4 a gallon in d.c. today. >> it's more than $4 by tomorrow. it's unbelievable. it's unbelievable. >> reporter: soaring to a national average of $3.38 a gallon, gas is squeezing

budgets. beth, a virginia teacher and mother of two, says getting to work and the kids to their activities will cost at least another $110 a month if gas hits $4 a gallon. >> going to the movies these days is a full tank of gas for us. things like that will end up being cut out of the budget. >> reporter: michael's 20 person florist business is getting hit on two ends. many of his flowers are flown in from overseas. higher costs there. at $4 a gallon, he will play $3,000 a month to keep his eight delivery trucks on the road. >> you get it from when you buy the flowers and when you deliver them. >> absolutely. buying flowers, the cost goes up, and it's costing us more to deliver flowers where right now, we're abzorbing the cost ourselves. >> reporter: airlines are not absorbing the cost. fares went up $10 this week. and if jet fuel rises to the equi equivalent of $4 a gallon, it will raise at least $840 million to airlines prices each month. what's surprising, this is not caused by a shortage of gas.

saudi arabia has promised to pump more oil to make up for any loss from libya. there's a potential for a problem but we still see prices go up. >> welcome to the market. people are afraid there's going to be a problem in the middle east. this could eventually affect saudi arabia and then it really is a big deal. >> david joins us from washington. did you get a firm answer on the $4 mark? when we should expect it? >> robin west said if we don't see it by memorial day, we probably will be the summer and the memorial season. the real concern is this starts to be a drag on the economy which is just starting to come back. bad news for the obama administration trying to rebuild that economy. so far, no word from the white house that they plan any intervention at all about gas prices. >> david, thank you. as david knows, a major reason for the surge in prices as he pointed out, libya. it's not that there's a shortage of oil but an abundance of fear. tonight the rebels in libya are on the move. miguel marquez from tripoli. >> reporter: today, another town falls.

streets erupt in celebration. rebels say their march for tripoli is unstoppable. the town that fell to the rebels is home to one of libya's largest refineries and an important strategic victory in the rebellion. this man claims he brought down a war plane. more evidence gadhafi's air force is in the fight. the rebels are making astonishing progress against what should be superior forces but gadhafi's military has only retreated, possibly a strategic move. for the rebellions, the road gets harder from here. sirte is 100 miles west. and tripoli is 250 miles further on. rebel forces will need reinforcements, ammunition and much more support in the streets of tripoli if they hope to take the capital where gadhafi has

shown little restraint in using force. today, a huge assault by gadhafi's forces west of tripoli. dunzs of tanks and heavy weapons moved into the city to crush the rebellion. the government says all rebel leaders were killed and their followers have gone into hiding. the rebels say they still control the town. if colonel gadhafi doesn't leave the country willingly, a huge battle is brewing. as rebel forces continue their rapid advance and heavily armed government troops will finally be forced to take a stand. no more retreating. david? >> miguel marquez. thank you. as miguel just reported, we see how hard gadhafi is trying to hold on to power. so are the rebels who have gained so much ground. who are these fighters? teachers, engineers, fishermen. >> reporter: the battle for benghazi, the deadliest in the uprising. civilians in the streets using whatever they could find against

the gadhafi force's overwhelming fi fi firepower and winning for now. this week, the same civilians have been gearing up for another fight. these men are teachers, medical students, engineers. some of them have military experience. most don't. all of them say they're willing to die to defend benghazi and take out gadhafi. >> maybe i will die or all of us will die, but our country will be free. >> reporter: the training is basic, to say the least. soldiers teach them how to use ak-47 and 50 caliber anti-aircraft guns. they're a rag tag bunch with few weapons. what they lack in training and equipment, they make up for in heart. >> we have no other choice. we die or we win. >> mehsud was wounded in the early fighting. he has a special skillset. he used to fish with tnt. he's brought his expertise to the fight. >> this one, it can kill ten people.

>> reporter: at his house, we meet his son and wife. she's pregnant with another boy and is not happy with her husband for volunteering. while he prepares to fight, he shutters his cafe and car wash, but he still plays with his band. ♪ we know how to make freedom >> reporter: many have already fought and died. the fight is far from over. alex marquardt, libya. >> thanks to alex marquardt. >> we want to bring christiane amanpour the host of "this week." great to see you. >> good to be here. >> the president declared gadhafi must go. but what does the u.s. do now? >> well, david, that's a very good question. you remember when he was with us in tripoli just about a week ago. he said he wasn't going anywhere. he wasn't leaving the country or stepping down. now that the president has publicly said that he must go, it begs the question, is there somebody who's able to intervene, offer gadhafi some kind of deal and get him out of

there? or does the president, the united states and the international community have to do something more active, have to intervene to get rid of him? once he's been told he has to go, presumably he has to go, otherwise the credibility of the united states is in question. >> you know so much of the emphasis has been on humanitarian relief. senator john mccain has been the first to talk about the no fly zone. you have him on the program tomorrow? >> indeed we do. senator mccain has been vocal in that regard. so in fact the arab union, the arab league have talked about potentially a no-fly zone. i think from everything i'm hearing, they're quite far away from that. of course establishing a no fly zone would, because i've seen it before, involve having to bomb that country's air defenses. it's not a benign putting up of fighter jets to patrol the skies. it requires much more military activity. another option is to have planes in the mediterranean and have them fly around or just be there as a warning and as a show of force.

>> a number of options to debate. thank you. senator mccain at a round table about the role of women in these uprisings and how they're transforming the muslim world, tomorrow morning on "this week" with christiane amanpour. one more note about libya. another american mega star is distancing himself from the gadhafis. now it's the singer usher says he'll donate to human rights groups the money he received for attending a party for one of gadhafi's sons. beyonce, mariah carey, and nelly f furtado said they would give away their hefty payments for performing at gadhafi parties. we turn to the battle of the budget in washington. we have learned that the democrats and republicans are $50 billion apart on cuts. while they debate where the cuts come from, jon karl with new findings from capitol hill's watch dog. it wasn't hard for this group to find ideas. >> reporter: even when it comes to chickens and eggs, there's a tangle of overlapping and

redundant programs. it's almost embarrassing. the food and drug administration is responsible for ensuring that eggs are safe, wholesome and properly labeled. the department of agriculture is responsible for eggs processed into egg products. the ag department is responsible for the health of young chicks, while the fda oversees the safety of the food that the chicks eat. got that? all told, 15 separate agencies have responsibility for food safety. in agency after agency, the report finds overlapping programs wasting billions of dollars, programs that are almost never assessed to see if they are actually working. case in point, roads and trains. report found 82 different programs with similar descriptions in ten different agencies. job training, 47 different programs, 44 of them overlapping. >> it makes us look like jack asses. what would you think? you're paying men and women to come to congress to be good stewards of money and you get a

report out like this that says you're absolutely not good stewards of the money. >> there's this one, 56 programs and 20 federal agencies designed to teach americans financial literacy. there's certainly a need for that, especially in the place that gave us a $14 trillion debt. jonathan karl, abc news, capitol hill. >> jon karl on the case tonight. we're following a tragedy in nevada this evening. a man fell 200 feet into an abandoned mine and at first survived. the rescuers found the mine was too dangerous to enter, they had to stand by helplessly as the man died. there are 500,000 abandoned mines in this country, mostly in the west. nevada alone has 10,000 of them. still ahead as we continue on "world news" this saturday night. cracking a cold case, a man targeting women for more than a decade. tonight investigators say one simple move this week gave him away. thousands of you wrote in after made in america this week. from the kindergarten case in south carolina to the golden

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simple misstep by the suspect this week helped investigators crack the case. here's linsey davis. >> reporter: for years, the most police had to go on were these sketches. the man dubbed as the east coast rapist and described as a bold predator, eluded authorities in four states for 14 years, 17 suspected rapes. >> he was not talking to people about what he was doing. he let time lapse between them and he left the community probably right after he committed the act. >> reporter: police believe their search is over. yesterday, they arrested 39-year-old aaron thomas. >> i hope the arrest of aaron thomas brings some closure to our victims in our communities. >> reporter: the arrest came less than a week after officials posted more than 100 billboards. in eight states. an anonymous tip led them to thomas in new haven, connecticut, where they set up surveillance. in typical csi fashion, the smoking gun was dna on a discarded cigarette.

the first crimes date back to 1997 in maryland and stretch all the way to rhode island. >> i'm sure there are cases out there that we don't know exist. it's great to have him off the streets. >> reporter: police say his last known attack was in virginia in 2009. three teens were trick or treating when a man forced them into the woods with a gun. he raped two of them. years later after news of an arrest, up and down the east coast, a collective sigh of relief. >> i've been concerned about this all the time. i have been seeing it on tv. >> reporter: we're starting to learn more about thomas. we know he was a long haul trucker. police say that's one reason he would have been traveling up and down interstate 95. he lived in connecticut but sources say he regularly visited his mother in virginia. david, she lives in a town not far from where one of the rapes took place. >> incredible though. one cigarette butt this week, connecting the dots of dna for more than a decade. >> quite a helpful tip. >> thank you. when we come back, so many of

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as you saw there, all this week, "world news" has been asking the question, do you know how much of your home was made in america? if americans bought just a little more in this country, would it create jobs here? would it unsettle global trade? economists weighed in, thousands of you did too. it turns out what the family in dallas did, thousands of you did too. writing in. >> made in china. >> reporter: and sending in your own made in america moments. the texas wife who showed us her cowboy boots made overseas showed us her husband's uniform. >> his firefighting uniform made abroad. >> reporter: the kindergarten teacher from south carolina and the koala bear she shows the children. >> made in korea.

>> reporter: more from our abc stations, hearing from all of you, from channel 7 in d.c. to buffalo's channel 7 too. in san francisco, where the golden gate bridge was famously built from steel in trenton, new jersey, the gift shop visited by casey. >> how much stuff in this store comes from overseas. >> i'd a 90%. >> how much is chinese? >> 90%. >> in the coming weeks, your questions answered as we travel the country about the gaps we found. not a single light bulb made in america or television. >> you'll remember we replaced the texas longhorn and a team of experts said the areas we shouldn't compete in and where americans companies can blaze the way and the global equation. the economists who say one doesn't hurt the other. we meet the workers who sent us the message saying they can compete with products made in america. so proud holding those banners. tomorrow morning, diane sawyer, sharyn alfonsi and i will join

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finally tonight, a grandmother you don't want to mess with. for decades she's put away some of the most coniving criminals. here's jeremy hubbard. >> reporter: law breakers beware. don't mess with lorain. >> if you go against lorain, you go [ bleep ]. >> reporter: in more than three decades at the u.s. attorneys office, she celebrated hundreds of wins in the courtroom. >> the lorraine fan club. >> reporter: recently, her co-workers were celebrating her. ♪ happy birthday to you >> reporter: at 82 years olds, lorain is the oldest federal prosecutor in the country. you got four, five, ten more years? >> i have no idea when. some day, it will be over. until then, i'm truly enjoying it. >> reporter: why stop now? every day is a cool day. there's something exciting happening all the time. >> reporter: she helped put away

two men who scammed $20 million selling fake health insurance plans. she helped out in a mob trial or two. >> they get into white collar crime. >> reporter: the president sent this letter congratulating her on her first 80 years. >> lorain is a very unusual, talented woman who made her own way in days it was very difficult for women to succeed. >> you make me and keep me young and i thank you for that. >> reporter: from the looks of it, it will be awhile before the prosecution rests. jeremy hubbard, abc news. >> happy birthday, lorain. that is "world news" for this saturday night. we're always online at abcnews.com. dan and bianna first thing in the morning on "gma." i'll see you back here tomorrow night. from all of us here, good night.

>> alan: the san bruno serviceman with an astonishing story of bravery and compassion is back from afghanistan. his home town welcomed him back, and it was all a big surprise for the guest of honor. tomas roman is in san bruno with the story. >> reporter: we're on magnolia avenue. the navy corpsman was deployed to afghanistan january 1st january 1st this year with the marine tank battalion. a month and a half later he is home and wounded. today is joe0s birthday. he expected a celebration but nothing like he got today.